Soccer complex proposal draws criticism from neighbors in Murrysville
Feb. 21—A proposal for a soccer complex along School Road South near the Murrysville-Penn Township border is drawing criticism from nearby residents.
More than a half-dozen residents are opposed to the proposal to develop a sports complex with one full-sized and one seven-on-seven soccer field in the 4900 block of School Road South near Trefoil Drive.
"This site is a former abandoned strip mine area as well as a former horse training facility," said Jason Machovyak, a senior project manager with engineers Young & Associates. "The site has a lot of exposed mine spoil."
Along with the soccer fields, Machovyak said, the proposal includes parking for up to 200 vehicles and a building to house maintenance supplies and a vending area. The
complex would cater primarily to club soccer teams, hosting games and tournaments.
Several nearby homeowners aired concerns during a public hearing this month before the Murrysville Planning Commission about the rural character of the area as well as additional traffic on an already busy road.
"When I tried to get a new driveway permit from PennDOT, I was told my site distance was too short," said
Srikanth Raghunathan, who lives on property directly adjacent to the access road that would serve as the proposed entrance for the complex. Both roads are situated along a relatively blind curve for traffic headed south from Route 22.
"The speed limit is 35 mph, and people drive 50 or 60," Raghunathan said. "It's hard right now, the way it is, to make a left from my driveway, or to pull in during peak travel time."
Other neighbors are concerned about light pollution from 80-foot LED light poles proposed for the soccer fields. Brandon Grunder of Musco Sports Lighting said the fixtures have a feature allowing them to direct lights to the field area only.
"We do about 1,800 jobs a year around the U.S. and we're very cognizant of the neighbors who live near these facilities," Grunder said. "The reason we go a little bit taller is to create a steeper angle so homeowners don't see that glare source the way you do with older field lights."
Musco has done similar LED lighting for Pine-Richland's football stadium, Duquesne University's Rooney Field and Hempfield Park.
"My primary concern is that we live in a rural-residential (R-R) area for a reason," said Kiersten Maryott, who lives across the street from the project site on Trefoil Drive. "I don't really understand how this fits within the guidelines of an R-R zoned area."
Developers for the project are requesting a conditional-use permit to develop commercial recreation facilities in the R-R district. Murrysville Council has the option to create a list of reasonable conditions under which it must operate.
"We moved here from Pittsburgh because it's a beautiful, quiet, dark community," said School Road South resident Ken Mason. "Nobody bothers us, and this whole proposal is going to bring traffic, garbage on the road. We have a (hard) time getting out of our driveway any time of day."
The property also includes a tributary stream of Lyons Run, which is part of a municipal acid mine reduction project.
"The strip mining on this property took place at an unregulated time," said Alanna Colvin, who lives south of the proposed complex on Boxcartown Road. "What is it going to look like when you disturb the earth and these dormant contaminants become present? The remediation project is upstream of this area. What are we doing other than shooting ourselves in the foot if we approve a project that could just continue to contaminate Lyons Run?"
Resident Kevin Hickey said he moved to the area because it is quiet and rural.
"I feel like this will really change the character of our whole neighborhood," Hickey said.
Planning chair Jayne Hoy agreed.
"I think the problem for the neighbors is it's going to be (busy) Saturdays and Sundays, when this is a really quiet area," Hoy said. "I can understand where these folks are coming from."
The commission did not make an official recommendation on the project at its most recent meeting but could take action in March.
Patrick Varine is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Patrick by email at pvarine@triblive.com or via Twitter .
